the majority of whom hailed from ireland and germany. almost half were from ireland alone. in 1855, more than 50% of the population of new york, the first port of call for the majority of immigrants, was foreign-born. but attitudes were changing. toward the end of the 19th sentry, just 1.6% of immigrants were asian. but apparently that was enough to push congress to pass the chinese exclusion act in 1882 restricting immigration from china for ten years. as public opinion turned against certain kinds of immigrants in the early 20th century, more legislative restrictions began to take hold. in 1924, the johnson-reid immigration act created a quota system. it puts caps on the number of immigrants that could come to the u.s. from a particular country. the act also included a provision that made certain immigrants ineligible for citizenship based on race or nationality. by the middle of the 20th septemberry, the face of immigration to the united states had begun to change. by the end of the 1970s, a third of the foreign-born population of the country hailed from latin america. t